Fort Benning Growth Estimates Revised

Fort Benning officials say fewer people are coming to West Georgia as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Process. And on top of that, they’re planning to cut the workforce.

At first twenty-eight thousand soldiers, civilian employees, and their families were expected when the Fort Knox Armor School moved to the base from Kentucky. Now the number is closer to twenty-two thousand.

In addition, the Department of Defense is asking the Army and Air Force to cut civilian workforces by fifteen percent. Fort Benning Deputy Garrison Commander George Steuber says some civilian jobs could be done by soldiers.

“When I came to Fort Benning in 1966 basic training, advanced individual training soldiers all pulled KP. We were servers in dining facilities and that sort of thing, and we may very well go back to that.” (:12)

Steuber says some job cuts could come through retirements and by letting empty positions go unfilled. Other Georgia military bases are facing similar cuts.